Environmental lighting, particularly outdoor lighting, is well known in commercial or public settings, such as parks and schools. Such lighting is also popular in residential applications, both to enhance the appearance and safety of the outdoor area and for security, to illuminate dark areas around a building or in a yard which may provide hiding places and unobserved entry points for intruders.
Landscape and outdoor lighting systems include one or more lighting fixtures which are connected to either a 12 V transformer or a standard 120 V AC line. Some lighting fixtures enclose a halogen lamp or conventional bulb within a housing, and include a reflector assembly and a lens or window within the housing. These fixtures may be used for highlighting features such as trees or statues, i.e., up-lighting or for pathway or ground lighting. Other fixtures, used almost exclusively in down-lighting applications, may have an open aspect, where the reflector, and sometimes the lamp and socket are open and directed toward the ground. These fixtures tend to be used in larger quantities within a lighting system since they are typically less expensive than the closed fixtures and are capable of washing large expanses of open area with glare-free light, e.g., pathways, driveways, patios, ground cover plants, and for perimeter lighting.
Pathway down lighting fixtures often have a hood or cowl shaped in the form of a bell, half-shell, cone, tulip, or pyramid that surrounds the lamp except for the lower end of the cowl from which the light emanates. In addition to preventing escape of light in an upward direction, the inner surface of the cowl acts as a reflector to optimize the amount of light directed toward the desired target area.
Outdoor light fixtures are prone to dirt build-up and/or corrosion that can diminish light output and accelerate deterioration and, ultimately, failure of the fixture. In closed fixtures, the effects of dirt build-up and/or oxidation can be reduced by sealing the lamp within a clear or translucent cylinder to create a moisture-proof chamber. To achieve the desired seal, the upper edge of the cylinder is typically glued to the hood using epoxy or silicone adhesive. Any accumulation of material on the cylindrical lens can be easily wiped away to restore full illumination capability. A drawback of the closed fixture designs is that one must disassemble the housing by separating the lens from a base portion to access the lamp for replacement. Another issue with closed fixtures is that the lens can break or crack. Since the lens is glued to the hood, the entire hood/lens assembly must be replaced if one wishes to ensure a well-sealed fixture. An exemplary closed fixture is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,874,905, of Beadle, which is incorporated herein by reference. In addition to being costly to replace both the lens and metal hood, introduction of a new hood into an established lighting system can detract from the aesthetics of the system since the new hood will not match the other fixtures because is has not weathered or oxidized, for example, to a verde finish in the case of copper.
Another drawback of current commercially available outdoor lighting systems is that such systems will remain in place for years. Due to the expense and effort of replacing an entire set of fixtures, the property owner will keep the same fixtures, even if they would prefer a change in appearance, for example, if the landscape design has changed, or the house or other building has been remodeled or painted a different color.
It would be desirable to provide a pathway light fixture that is attractive, resists breakdown in an outdoor environment, is easy to manufacture and service, and includes easily replaced critical components while still maintaining a good quality seal. The problems and deficiencies are clearly felt in the art and are solved by the present invention in the manner described below.